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Y'know what. . . this is exciting. The 6 per transponder thing is being validated. Okay, so probably no grand-slam Festivus events coming for us till D14 launches. . . but a steady dribble works just fine for me, and if you're paying attention they're pretty much hitting the high points by reasonable criteria. Whether my personal hopes or not (and some haven't been), very reasonable criteria if you're at all fair-minded.

I'm a little concerned for BBCA-HD, but surely the passion vote counts for something. . . .as it surely should.

But bottom line. . .the "pack it in until D14 launches" crowd has been shown to just be. . . wrong.

Y'know what. . . this is exciting. The 6 per transponder thing is being validated. Okay, so probably no grand-slam Festivus events coming for us till D14 launches. . . but a steady dribble works just fine for me, and if you're paying attention they're pretty much hitting the high points by reasonable criteria. Whether my personal hopes or not (and some haven't been), very reasonable criteria if you're at all fair-minded.

I'm a little concerned for BBCA-HD, but surely the passion vote counts for something. . . .as it surely should.

But bottom line. . .the "pack it in until D14 launches" crowd has been shown to just be. . . wrong.

If it was a GRAND SLAM of additions, what would happen to Swanni?? Would anyone care? haha now seriousness..

TCM is just this year's BET-HD last minute addition until the new bird flies. Yes guys, a few more crumbs can be given. I've posted many threads and commented in the past on this PRECISE specific scenario....in which, quite frankly on just how much room is there that the powers that be never tell us there actually is????..Here is another example of me calling it..There's always room...somehow there always is..

What a perfect time to bestow this new found channel, right when the competitor just lost 4 channels...HAH D* still sucks on adding basic HD during peace and happier non festivus times...but this doth makes them sucketh a bit less..

TCM is just this year's BET-HD last minute addition until the new bird flies. Yes guys, a few more crumbs can be given. I've posted many threads and commented in the past on this PRECISE specific scenario....in which, quite frankly on just how much room is there that the powers that be never tell us there actually is????..Here is another example of me calling it..There's always room...somehow there always is..

What a perfect time to bestow this new found channel, right when the competitor just lost 4 channels...HAH D* still sucks on adding basic HD during peace and happier non festivus times...but this doth makes them sucketh a bit less..

Let's talk 12 months from now. We know there's likely a slew of new RSN's to be added, because the industry as a whole has decided that sports as "must watch real-time TV" is where the reliable ad dollars are.

But I still predict at least 5 more. . .and maybe much more than that. . .basic HD before D14 is deemed operational.

Alan, I don't believe CSN Huston is on the air yet, as everything I have read says it's slated to begin broadcasting this fall when the rockets season starts, just as the new Lakers tw RSNs launch as well.

Well I tried my WiFi (Comcast), my downstairs neighbors' WiFi (AT&T Internet Services), and 3G (AT&T Wireless) and it's there on all 3. I could walk over to McDonald's (AT&T Hotspot) if you want...

And why would you think those tests do anything? You are using your account, your device and barely moving. No real variable changes. All you may have proven is that it is not random. Maybe. Heck, you probably didn't even clear a cache.

Cuz u said it depends on the servers. I just tried 3 different ISP's and it's still there.

I just cleared my phone's cache, cookies and history trail too (which doesn't make a difference anyway cuz it's an app not via Safari), and logged out then back in to my account on the app and it's still there.

Who says that the ISP is what determines what server you use? That could be a factor but so would be login ID, general geography, availability, a cookie (cookies are used for apps as well as safari, though clearing them probably requires removing the app and reinstalling). Since you are using an iDevice, that stuff is pretty well masked from the user.

Something is making some devices/users lose TCM SD on their iDevice and others not. Not sure we will figure out what it is.

BTW, just tried it on directv.com and when I hide SD duplicates, TCM disappears.

Why is DirecTV adding a "HD" channel which has never aired a single minute of high definition content? And why is everyone getting excited over a 24/7 upscale channel? This is a waste of space that could be utilized by a network that actually airs content in high definition.

TCM HD, in the U.S. at least, is probably the most useless "HD" channel out there as they seem to run everything through a standard definition encoder or something before running it to through the 1080i encoder and sending it out to cable companies.

Even if the film has a HD transfer available, TCM doesn't air it in HD.

The European feed of TCM HD on the other hand actually does air HD content.

TCM "HD" will be a great addition for all old movie buffs. I had it on Dish and in "HD" it was WAY better than a fuzzy SD picture. Thanks Directv. I am very excited about this addition. Sure, I want more HD jsut as much as the next guy (I'm looking at you DIY), but this is the one I really gave up in switching. My TV is whole again.

TCM "HD" will be a great addition for all old movie buffs. I had it on Dish and in "HD" it was WAY better than a fuzzy SD picture. Thanks Directv. I am very excited about this addition. Sure, I want more HD jsut as much as the next guy (I'm looking at you DIY), but this is the one I really gave up in switching. My TV is whole again.

Why is DirecTV adding a "HD" channel which has never aired a single minute of high definition content? And why is everyone getting excited over a 24/7 upscale channel? This is a waste of space that could be utilized by a network that actually airs content in high definition.

TCM HD, in the U.S. at least, is probably the most useless "HD" channel out there as they seem to run everything through a standard definition encoder or something before running it to through the 1080i encoder and sending it out to cable companies.

Even if the film has a HD transfer available, TCM doesn't air it in HD.

The European feed of TCM HD on the other hand actually does air HD content.

Welcome to DBS Talk.

To answer your question, what is HD anyway? If the PQ is good to great and the picture fills the screen on 16x9 content, then how do we know if they are using good upscales or HD transfers?

By all accounts, TCM HD looks great for those who have seen it on the systems it is on. I am looking forward to seeing much better PQ on TCM than I get now.

There is a lot of stuff that is not an HD transfer but is upscaled SD (at the source where good upscalers exist) that gives you DVD quality picture when transported on 1080i. You can get that with 480i but no one dedicates the bandwidth it takes to make the PQ truly good on cable/satellite. I have watched a lot of OTA that is full bandwidth 480i that looks excellent, so the HD bandwidth and standards will make TCM that much better.

Same here, was gone yesterday too. I don't know what to believe any more. Kind like when half of a product's reviews are good and half are bad, makes it pretty difficult to decide if it's any good/worth the money or not.

I believe it is coming and we are seeing caching issues with the update to the mobile guide data. When something is updated in a large network, it takes time for it to get everywhere. It does not happen right away. I see that issue just about every day at work.

To answer your question, what is HD anyway? If the PQ is good to great and the picture fills the screen on 16x9 content, then how do we know if they are using good upscales or HD transfers?

It's because I'm not blind.

It's obvious when something has HD detail and when it is upscaled crap. The problem with TCM is that HD transfers for many of their films have been made but they're still broadcasting them in standard definition. It makes no sense.

I've seen TCM HD on the systems it is on because I have Time Warner Cable. When I first saw TCM HD in the guide I thought it would be neat. When I actually tuned to the channel... wow, what a disappointment.

TCM HD does not qualify as "much better" picture. It is the SAME as TCM SD. There is no additional detail. You already have the equivalent of TCM HD. It's called TCM. Watch it on your HDTV and it will upscale it for you and it will look the same as TCM HD. My PC does a better job of upscaling than Turner's equipment.

The biggest problem with this is that it sets a bad precedent. Providers should be boycotting this channel until they start actually airing content in high definition. Right now it's false advertising to call the channel TCM HD.

If everyone pulled this **** at the start of the HD era nothing would be in native HD today. We'd all be dealing with 16:9 SD garbage like the Australians. The networks there realized that most people were incompetent and didn't notice the benefits of HD so as long as they made their signals "fill the screen" of everyone's HDTVs they could trick people into thinking they were watching HD. This is the same thing Turner is doing with TCM HD in the U.S. only they take it a step further and set it to output as 1080i instead of 576i 16:9 so they can claim to be "HD" since technically the resolution of the signal is higher than SD. 16:9 SD channels are abundant in Australia but you can count on one hand the number of native high definition channels down under.

I just don't understand how you can be happy with this. There is no excuse for this. Turner's catalog of films has many which have already had HD transfers made and this is evident because they actually air them in HD on the international TCM HD channel. It's now 3 years after TCM HD's launch in America and we're still getting the shaft for some reason. You're not getting this channel for free, a little bit more of your monthly bill to DirecTV now goes to Turner for their upscale channel and they sure as hell don't seem to be investing that money in some proper HD broadcasting equipment for the States. If all the hundreds of other HD networks no matter how small or obscure can afford the equipment for broadcasting their material in native HD I don't see why Turner gets to be the lone wolf here that everyone makes excuses for. If anything I'd expect fans of TCM to be more upset than I am that their channel is getting mismanaged this way but it seems to be the other way around.

I am excited about TCM HD because it DOES look better than the current SD channel. Maybe its just the additional bandwidth dedicated to it. If so fine. All I want is it to look better and better it does look.

It's obvious when something has HD detail and when it is upscaled crap. The problem with TCM is that HD transfers for many of their films have been made but they're still broadcasting them in standard definition. It makes no sense.

I've seen TCM HD on the systems it is on because I have Time Warner Cable. When I first saw TCM HD in the guide I thought it would be neat. When I actually tuned to the channel... wow, what a disappointment.

TCM HD does not qualify as "much better" picture. It is the SAME as TCM SD. There is no additional detail. You already have the equivalent of TCM HD. It's called TCM. Watch it on your HDTV and it will upscale it for you and it will look the same as TCM HD. My PC does a better job of upscaling than Turner's equipment.

The biggest problem with this is that it sets a bad precedent. Providers should be boycotting this channel until they start actually airing content in high definition. Right now it's false advertising to call the channel TCM HD.

If everyone pulled this **** at the start of the HD era nothing would be in native HD today. We'd all be dealing with 16:9 SD garbage like the Australians. The networks there realized that most people were incompetent and didn't notice the benefits of HD so as long as they made their signals "fill the screen" of everyone's HDTVs they could trick people into thinking they were watching HD. This is the same thing Turner is doing with TCM HD in the U.S. only they take it a step further and set it to output as 1080i instead of 576i 16:9 so they can claim to be "HD" since technically the resolution of the signal is higher than SD. 16:9 SD channels are abundant in Australia but you can count on one hand the number of native high definition channels down under.

I just don't understand how you can be happy with this. There is no excuse for this. Turner's catalog of films has many which have already had HD transfers made and this is evident because they actually air them in HD on the international TCM HD channel. It's now 3 years after TCM HD's launch in America and we're still getting the shaft for some reason. You're not getting this channel for free, a little bit more of your monthly bill to DirecTV now goes to Turner for their upscale channel and they sure as hell don't seem to be investing that money in some proper HD broadcasting equipment for the States. If all the hundreds of other HD networks no matter how small or obscure can afford the equipment for broadcasting their material in native HD I don't see why Turner gets to be the lone wolf here that everyone makes excuses for. If anything I'd expect fans of TCM to be more upset than I am that their channel is getting mismanaged this way but it seems to be the other way around.

I guess we can expect rants from you in the future.

I have seen a lot of SD upscaled to HD and it is a lot better. Especially with DirecTV SD.